by T. S. Ryder
“Right.” Kaelyn got to her feet. “Thank you for your help,” she said a little too curtly and walked out.
The pepper spray wasn’t such a bad idea. And she probably could change her number without too much hassle. But find a new job? It’s not like top paying positions in computer science were easy to find. This was a really good job and it had taken her months to get it. She didn’t want to start over, trying to find something new. And she shouldn’t have to.
Maybe there was a way she could make things hard for him, make him want to quit or make her undesirable to him. She tried to think up ideas, but other than showing up for work looking all frumpy, she couldn’t think of a way to get back at him. And she shouldn’t have to.
Chapter Six
All weekend Hayden kept an eye on Kaelyn. She just wasn’t herself. She wouldn’t talk, and he couldn’t get her to crack a smile. He’d always known her to be open, but somehow, she was completely shut down and shut off to him. He was starting to worry.
On Monday, when she ate breakfast before work, she seemed so tense. He’d come into the kitchen and startled her so badly that she screamed and jumped. Then he thought she was shaking as she picked at her breakfast, which she barely ate.
“Everything okay at work?” he asked later that night.
“It’s okay.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Just okay?”
“I just need to settle in. It’ll be fine.”
That was all she’d said before she disappeared to her room. So, today, he’d decided to do something for her. He wanted to cheer her up and make work a little better. He thought maybe some flowers would brighten up her day.
He called from his office to order them.
“Where should they be delivered?” the woman on the phone asked.
He hesitated. “Actually, I’ll pick them up.”
He didn’t get to leave as soon as he wanted to, but late in the afternoon, he went to the flower shop and picked up the bouquet of brightly colored flowers. He drove to the building she worked in and when he casually mentioned his name at the security desk, they let him up to her floor. It always amazed him how well just his name worked to get him things. The world shouldn’t be that way.
He wasn’t sure where on the floor her cube was, so when he stepped off the elevator, he asked the first person he found. She directed him to a row of cubes by the copier.
As he approached, he saw Will and stopped. Will worked here, too? Everything that Kaelyn had said came back to him now. He wasn’t her boyfriend anymore. Maybe this was why work had been so stressful lately.
Will didn’t see him, but walked straight over to a cube. Kaelyn’s cube. Hayden went around the corner to casually listen to their conversation.
“I just got back from HR,” Will said. “Why did you tell them I was stalking you?”
He couldn’t see her face, but he heard her sigh. “Because you are, Will,” she said in a hushed tone. “Please leave me alone so I can work.”
“Even Jason on third thinks you should give me a chance. I’m a great guy, you just have to get to know me.”
Get to know him? If he had been an ex-boyfriend, there would be no getting to know him.
“Will, I am not going to go out with you. I’m not interested. I told you, I’m living with Hayden. That means it’s a serious relationship and I love him.”
She hadn’t said it with much conviction, and he could tell she was only using this to turn him away, but still. The corner of his mouth quirked up. He kind of liked that she was using him as an excuse.
“He doesn’t have to know,” Will said. “I can love you better than him, Kae, just let me show you.”
Hayden made an involuntary face of dislike. Kaelyn hated the nickname Kae. Gabby on occasion called her KaeKae, and that was okay sometimes, but not Kae.
“I would never do that to him,” she said. “And I am not interested in you. Please go back to your cube. I have a lot of work to do.”
“I will as soon as you agree to go out with me.”
She must have started ignoring him then because there was no response. Hayden waited, the anger in him seething. This guy was a total creep. He’d been to the house and she hadn’t given him the address. He’d even had the passcode. This was so not cool. It seemed that she was trying to do something about it since he’d mentioned HR. But it didn’t seem to be working if she couldn’t get him to leave her alone now. She couldn’t even work, he was bothering her so much.
Well, Hayden never had been the type to stand back and let things go. He would do something about this. He took the flowers back to his car. He could give them to her later.
He thought that Will had driven a green Honda to the house the other day. He searched the parking lot and found one. Then, he waited. It had to be close to the time they were done with work.
People started to exit the building a half hour later. He watched, eyes peeled for the little creep. Finally, he saw him and crouched down between the cars to keep himself hidden. Will walked to his car, and as he reached out for the door handle, Hayden shot out his hand and grabbed his wrist.
Will let out a girly scream and tried to pull away from him. But Hayden was much stronger.
“Come with me.” Hayden pulled him toward the edge of the parking lot, where there was a thick patch of trees. There would be fewer witnesses that way.
Will let himself be dragged along for a few feet, then he yanked back. He managed to get his arm free and took off running.
Oh no. He was not going to get away with this. The second Hayden was under the cover of the trees, he burst into gorilla form, sending his clothes into shreds that fluttered behind him. He ran on all fours and caught up to Will quickly. He roared and Will shrieked again. Hayden pounced on him, pinning him to the ground with his huge arms.
Will struggled under the weight. He looked terrified. Hayden almost laughed. He shifted back into human form and punched him across the jaw.
“You stay away from Kaelyn, do you understand? Or next time, you might find yourself the victim of a gorilla attack.”
He stood up, and Will scrambled to his feet, then took off running. Hayden walked back to the parking lot.
It had cleared out some in the time it took for him to chase Will, but there were still too many people around. He had spare clothes in his trunk. He kept spare clothing in many places since he never knew when he might have to shift on the fly and would find himself naked afterward. But to get to his clothing required a walk through the parking lot. He found his shredded pants and fished his keys and wallet from his pockets.
He waited until there was a nice balance of empty spots, fewer people and a darkening sky. Then he bolted to his car. He popped the trunk open and quickly stepped into his shorts, then pulled a shirt on.
He didn’t know where Kaelyn had gone. He didn’t see her car in the lot when he left, but she wasn’t there when he got home. He went about his evening as he had planned. He worked out in his home gym, then had dinner. She still hadn’t shown.
Later that night, when he was relaxing in the living room, watching TV while catching up on emails, she came in the door and, when she saw him, flopped down on the couch beside him.
“Rough day?” he asked.
She ran her hands through her hair and nodded, bending over so that her head was in her hands and her elbows were on her knees. “The worst.”
“What happened?”
“It’s just stressful and my co-workers aren’t very helpful. I actually started looking for a new job today.”
“Wow, that’s serious.”
She turned to him, a hopeful expression on her face. “Any chance your company needs a new database administrator?”
“I can look into it. I’m sure I could create a position.”
“I can’t ask you to do that. That would be a huge favor on top of the other huge favor you’re already doing for me. I’d owe you for life.”
“I might be okay with that.” He wanted to see
if he could get her to open up and tell him on her own what was going on with Will, before he told her that he had seen plenty. “What’s making it so bad?”
“I just need to get out of there.”
“Kaelyn. You’ve been dealing with this all week. You can tell me.”
She sat back hard on the couch and slumped down. “Thanks. I appreciate that, I really do. It’s just something I have to work through on my own.”
“Oh.” He twisted his mouth to the side. No point in not telling her, even if she wouldn’t be happy about it. “Well. The thing is. I already know what’s going on with Will.”
“What do you mean?”
“I noticed you’ve been stressed and not yourself lately and that work was getting you down. So, I brought you flowers today. And—”
“I didn’t get any flowers.”
He reached over his head, pointing behind him to the table. “Those are them. I didn’t end up giving them to you because when I got to your cube, Will was there. I heard him harassing you. So I waited for him in the parking lot.”
She gasped and sat straight up. “You did?”
“I chased him down in gorilla form and told him to stay away from you.”
“Hayden!”
“I’m sorry if that makes you mad, but I had to do something. I couldn’t just let him talk to you that way and it didn’t seem like HR were doing much. If he makes you want to quit your job after a week, it’s got to be bad. And I don’t like that he was here when you didn’t give the address or the passcode.”
“Wait a minute.” She narrowed her eyes slightly. “What did you hear?”
He smirked. “Everything. Don’t worry. I know you said it just to get him to leave you alone.”
She let out a long sigh. “Well, I don’t know what to say.”
“Hopefully he’ll stay away now.”
“You really brought me flowers?” She turned to him with a huge grin, then glanced over at the flowers.
“Well, I guess I technically didn’t since I never gave them to you.”
“But still. That’s so sweet. I’m sorry you had to hear all of that.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? We could have taken care of this sooner.”
She shrugged. “I was worried you would ask me to leave so you didn’t have to deal with it all. It’s been such a hassle, and the police can’t do much since he hasn’t actually committed a crime yet. And since he’s already come to the house. I don’t know. You deal with enough of that as it is. I didn’t want you to have to worry about this, too.”
“But I was worried about you. And I was more worried that you wouldn’t talk about it. I was starting to think…” He closed his mouth. He didn’t want to say what he’d been about to.
“What?”
“Never mind.”
She tilted her head and gave him an exasperated look. “Spill.”
“It’s just that I thought we were kind of, I don’t know… flirting and maybe having some feelings after we kissed? Then you just shut down on me. I thought you lost interest or…”
“I haven’t lost interest.” She held his gaze for a long beat.
“Okay then.”
“It’s a relief to have you know. You’re not freaked out by it?”
“The only issue I have is that you didn’t tell me right away. We’ll figure out how to deal with this together, okay?”
Kaelyn nodded and looked at him with tear-filled eyes. “Thank you. And thank you for going after him. I can’t imagine after being chased by a gorilla that he’d keep at it.”
“Well, I will make a position for you in a second if you want to work for me. I have to warn you, though, I can be a very tough boss. I may also be tempted to make some sexual comments or do other inappropriate things in the office.”
She picked up the pillow beside her and threw it at him. “Whatever, dork.”
“Hey!” He set the laptop down and scrambled across the couch to get to her and tickle her like he used to when they were younger. He always beat her and Gabby from sheer size alone. Gabby, being a gorilla shifter herself, got free easily, but Kaelyn didn’t have their strength, and it showed.
Just like then, he now had her pinned with little effort. Except it was suddenly different. Now when he was hovering above her, it felt very intimate. Her arms were above her head, stretched far. He straddled her waist, his hips over hers. He couldn’t help it. He started to get hard.
The laughter stopped and they gazed into each other’s eyes. His heart was racing. He didn’t care what they’d said before. He leaned down, moving slowly to give her plenty of time to turn away or say no. He paused with his mouth just an inch above hers. She lifted her head to press her lips to his.
He kissed her, letting his tongue slip between her lips, this time, to caress her tongue with his own. The kiss started to get hotter. He wanted her so badly. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to contain himself. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to wait after all.
He reached one hand down to her breast and squeezed gently, cupping and caressing its full weight. She was so soft in his hands, he couldn’t get enough. He ran his fingertips along her stomach, feeling her bare skin.
He hesitated. They’d said they were going to wait. Was this moving too fast? But his hard on raged in his pants and she was breathing heavily, pressing her body against his.
He moved down and unzipped her pants, then slipped his hand beneath her panties. She let out a moan as he slipped his finger around her clit and between her lips. He slid his finger inside her, feeling her warm dampness. She was already so wet. She wanted him, too. He could rip her clothes off right now and take her.
He moved his finger in and out of her, making her moan in pleasure. But then he glanced up and saw his housekeeper hurrying away. Crap. She’d seen them making out. This was not the place to do this. It was one downfall of having staff. They were always there.
He pulled his hand out and kissed her again. “I have too many staff to do this here,” he breathed into her ear.
He backed away, rolling over to sit beside her. She pulled herself up on the couch and looked around to see if someone could see them.
He kissed her cheek. Now that they weren’t kissing and her body wasn’t pressing against him, he could think a little better. “We should probably wait like we talked about anyway.”
She nodded and closed her eyes, running her hands through her hair. “We should wait,” she repeated.
“And we should talk to Gabby.”
She nodded again.
He kissed her one last time before taking his laptop to his room where he could be away from the temptation of her body. He tried to focus on his work, even if all he could think about was her.
Chapter Seven
Kaelyn still couldn’t fully wrap her head around yesterday, from Will’s obnoxiousness to Hayden’s chasing after him. Then Hayden’s kiss. The day had gone from extreme aggravation to extreme pleasure with a stop at gratitude and embarrassment along the way.
If she’d had any idea Hayden was around, she never would have said he was her boyfriend and she loved him. Of course, he had handled it well and played it off as nothing, but it wasn’t nothing. She wanted it to be true. She thought maybe the second part of that, the being in love part, was true. After knowing him for so many years and now seeing him like this and kissing him, it was easy to fall for him.
When she got to work the next day, she was still on such a buzz from kissing him and thinking that the Will problem would go away that she actually felt good walking to her cube. She was happy, relieved of stress, ready to start her day.
She’d texted Gabby earlier that morning. “What would you say if Hayden and I hooked up?”
The response made Kaelyn giggle. “It’s about time?” Then a short moment later, “So, did you or is this a preemptive text?”
“We did, then decided to wait until I moved out and we’d talked to you.”
“Well, you just talked to me, so do your thing.�
�� She’d even added a winky face. Everything seemed to be falling in place.
But when she got to her cube, all that changed. On her desk was a stuffed gorilla. Except it wasn’t just a cute little stuffed animal sitting there. It had been torn to shreds. Someone had sliced it with a knife and pulled out its insides, leaving her desk covered in stuffing and gorilla parts. Clearly, it was a threat.
She took out her phone and snapped a picture, but she couldn’t do much with this. If she told HR or took this to the police, they would know Hayden’s secret. What if Will told people? Why hadn’t Hayden considered that before he shifted in front of him? She brushed the mess into the trash and turned on her computer.
There was an email waiting from Will. She’d been able to block his calls and texts on her phone, but here at work, she couldn’t. They still worked together, so she needed to be able to get his emails. With a deep breath, she opened it.
“Kae,
Met your boyfriend yesterday and what a hunk! I find him to be quite wild. I can see why you’d be concerned about him. But don’t worry. I’m not concerned. He never has to know anything. That kind of makes it more fun, don’t you think? How about lunch? We could sneak off someplace romantic.
- Will”
It was like he knew exactly how far to go and what he could and couldn’t say. When she’d talked to HR, they said he needed to make some sexual innuendo or say something more specific for it to be considered sexual harassment. Every time she went to talk to them, it was the same thing. “It just sounds like he really likes you, and so far, he hasn’t done anything we can legally fire him over, but we’ll talk to him.”Apparently, all the talk had done was make him more cautious in writing.
But it still felt like a threat. Every line seemed to have a hidden message. Though it completely pissed her off, she could see HR’s point. If they went by this email, what would they say? We’re firing you because you like someone? Even the part about Hayden could have been taken as her complaining over a jealous boyfriend. Will came off like an idiot, but he was far smarter than she’d given him credit for.
She checked the rest of her emails and went on with her morning. But when it came near lunch time, sure enough, Will came to her cube.